Two and a half millennia and 79 generations separate the great philosopher Confucius from his youngest direct descendant – a Manchester United fan from West London.

This weekend in one corner of a sprawling graveyard James Hung, 14, embarked on a rite of passage in the country shaped by Confucius’s ideals. He joined 100 men from all over China as they marched in procession through the world’s largest family cemetery, stopping at a tiny shrine surrounded by piles of apples, oranges, rice cakes and velveteen cushions, This was the annual Tomb-Sweeping Ceremony – so important in China that it has from this year been declared a national holiday so that people can take the time to clean the graves of their ancestors in a rite that dates back to the precepts of the sage himself. The holiday falls on April 4, but the descendants of Confucius brought their private family ritual forward a week to avoid the crowds.

The experience was very different from the last time James was in the country. Seven years ago he played football with his sister in a courtyard of the huge family mansion where his grandfather – the head of the Confucius line in China – spent his childhood.

This time he was there to watch and learn about his unique ancestry. James, whose Chinese name is Hung Chuixu, followed his father Richard Hung – or Hung Weizhong – who led the ceremony. Hung is a version of the more commonly used surname, Kong, which has been passed on uninterrupted since the death of Confucius – Kong Fuzi – in 549BC. His grandfather carries the mantle of head of the line in China.

James told The Times: “I was so excited on the flight from London that my teeth were chattering. It’s like rediscovering something I’ve been almost cut out of. I’m paying my respects to my ancestry that I have learnt about and been taught about.”

While his father headed the descendants in presenting offerings at the grave, James stood in the second row. He had to bow and make his obeisances, in practice for future years. He presented a traditional funereal basket of flowers at the grave of the man whose thoughts and sayings, gathered by his disciples in a book called The Analects, have shaped the values and mores of almost every Chinese.

“I think my ancestor’s views on benevolence were so important,” the teenager said. “I try to be kind to people. I feel instinctively that what he said makes sense.” His father, a successful businessman in Shanghai, is eager to see his only son improve his Chinese skills so that, one day, he too can represent the family in China. In nervous Mandarin, James, who was educated in Britain, gave his age to a Chinese journalist. His father looked pleased, but added: “You must learn to speak and to write properly.”

James says that he wants to return every year. “This is my family. These are my ancestors. I’ve known about my history ever since I can remember. But it’s important to come back.”

In recent years the thoughts of Confucius have come back into fashion in China. The Communist Party has given its blessing to teaching the precepts of the sage it vilified during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution as the arch feudal foe of the people.

Confucian thought is one of the building blocks of Chinese society. Children are supposed to honour their parents. Virtue, propriety, righteousness and benevolence are basic tenets of his thought – as is obedience to a ruler and the good behaviour of the ruler towards his subjects. These ideas find favour with today’s Communist leaders who have been shocked at the breakdown in morality that has followed rapid economic progress.

Richard Hung sees his ancestor as someone whose ideas remain relevant today. “Basically his teachings are about how to lead a proper life and this is not something relevant only in the East but people in the West too live according to his principles.”

A teenager's guide to Confucious

— In the home the young should behave with filial piety, and out in the world with brotherly love

— To provide for parents is considered filial piety. But dogs and horses are so provided. Without respect, what is the difference?

— The father who does not teach his son his duties is as guilty as the son who neglects them

To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right

— Being good as a son and obedient as a young man is, perhaps, the root of a man's character

Sources: www.confucius.org; www.wisdomquotes.com; www.gloabled.org

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